A Touch of Chaos
by BittyBlueEyes
Summary: Sequel to "An Old Friend" - Powerful, ancient beings have long searched for the Bad Wolf and believe they finally found the girl that can play with the power of time. They must be stopped, but at what cost?
1. Chapter 1

"We have arrived!" the Doctor announced once the TARDIS finished materializing.

"I know. I'm the one that drove," Rose chuckled.

"Yes, I know, but that doesn't make it any less true," the Doctor pointed out. "So, ready for a festival?"

"Absolutely."

The Doctor held out his arm and Rose linked hers with his and they exited the TARDIS together. As soon as they were outdoors, Rose turned around to have a good look at her TARDIS. Unlike the Doctor's it had a working chameleon circuit which allowed it to disguise itself as something that blended in with their surroundings. It blended in so well that they had to have a look at it so they could find it again. This time it took on the form of a large boulder.

Taking a look ahead of them, they saw that they were located behind what looked like a strip of homes at the edge of town. Each building was constructed of mud bricks and wood. Though the planet of Hocarro had received some visits from other planets in the galaxy and were offered new technology, they enjoyed their way of life. Rose respected them greatly for it. They took pride in themselves and their way of living.

The Doctor and Rose walked between a set of houses to have a look at the city from the road. Rose rolled her eyes and laughed when she had a look at it.

"Doctor, I don't see any decorations or stands. Are you sure you got the date right?"

"Hey, you're the one that drove," he reminded her. "Looks like I'm not the only one that gets their timing off a bit."

"Excuse me," Rose called to a passing woman. "Sorry to bother you, but we were hoping to see the Festival of Roeghan."

"Roeghan?" the woman asked in surprise. "I'm afraid you're quite late. Or perhaps very early. It was five months ago."

"Maybe more than a little off," the Doctor teased Rose.

"What's the date today?" Rose asked her.

"Third day of the seventh month," she responded.

"So the festival is the second month?" Rose continued.

"Yes."

Rose shot the Doctor a haughty smile. She'd gotten her timing perfect. It was that the Doctor had the wrong date.

"Thank you very much," Rose said to the woman. "Looks like we'll have to come back another time."

Rose and the Doctor started walking away when the woman called after them.

"If it's a festival you're looking for, there will be one in just three days. The first celebration of the Gifted One."

The Doctor's curiosity took hold and he led Rose back.

"The Gifted One?" the Doctor inquired. "I don't believe I've ever heard of him."

"No, I'm sure you wouldn't have. He was touched by the gods only one year ago."

"When you say touched by the gods, what does that mean exactly?" the Doctor asked.

"He has received the gift of healing. He needs only to raise his hand above a person and they are completely healed. It's not just illness and minor injuries, but he saves those near death. A cousin of mine went to visit him to relieve the crippling arthritis in his hands, but the Gifted One does true miracles. My cousin had lost his leg seven years ago in an accident. When seen by the Gifted One, his entire leg grew back all the way down to his toes. He was completely restored! If it is a festival that you want to attend, you should stay for the Celebration of the Gifted One."

Rose and the Doctor were interested before, but were now itching with intense curiosity.

"Is there any way we can see the Gifted One?" Rose inquired.

"Of course. He has a line to see him every day. Those who are not able to see him before nightfall sometimes sleep outside his hut until morning."

"Where can we find him?" asked the Doctor.

"Just follow this road out of town and down to the forest. A small path breaks off the road and will lead you straight to his door." The woman pointed to the forest about two kilometers down the road.

Rose and the Doctor both thanked her and were barely able to suppress the urge to run. They made their way at a quick casual pace until they came to the line of people waiting to be seen. Waiting was difficult, but it wasn't long before they stood at the front of the line. Knowing they wouldn't be able to see any miracles performed on themselves, they pushed past the person standing guard at the door to watch the healing of the person before them.

"You can't do that!" the guard said in surprise, obviously not used to people pushing past.

"It's fine," the Doctor told him. "We only want to watch."

Their eyes widened when they saw that the Gifted One as a boy no older than twelve. He sat cross-legged on a rug in the middle of the tiny hut. The man that was before them in line was laid out on the floor in front of the boy. He had been wheeled in on a sort of wicker push chair with obvious signs of respiratory distress.

"My ribs," the man told him. "They broke and the Doctor says one of them poked my lung. He can't fix it. I-"

"Do not worry," the boy told him. The Gifted One raised his hand over the man's body and a large swarm of tiny lights flowed out of his fingertips. The lights roved over the man's body and returned to the boy's hand, disappearing without a trace. The man took a deep breath and grinned from ear to ear. As soon as he realized he'd been cured, he knelt before the boy and bowed until his head touched the ground.

"Doctor," Rose whispered, "were those-?"

"Yes, they were," the Doctor answered.

"I wish you happiness and continued health," the boy told the man. The man promptly left and was heard sharing the good news with the woman who had brought him.

Rose and the Doctor, sensing it was their turn, went and kneeled in front of the boy.

"Which of you needs healing?" the Gifted One asked.

"Neither actually," the Doctor replied. "We've only come to talk with you."

"Talk?" the boy asked in surprise.

"Talk?" a woman barked in irritation as she stepped out of the shadows in the back corner of the hut. "He doesn't have time to waste talking when there are people out there in need of attention."

The Doctor leaned forward and whispered to the boy. "You weren't touched by the gods, were you? I think I know exactly where you got them from."

The boy gaped in shock. "Mother, please leave us. I'd like to speak with these people."

"What?!"

"Mother, please," he insisted.

The woman bowed her head and conceded. "Yes, Gifted One."

Rose watched the woman go. "Even your mum calls you Gifted One?"

"I don't have a name anymore," the boy sighed.

"I'm sure they won't let us stay long," the Doctor told him. "So why don't you tell me about this spacecraft you found?"

"How did you know?" His shoulders slumped and he wore a dejected frown.

"Because we've come across that type of healing before," Rose explained. "You found a spacecraft somewhere and found those little lights."

The Gifted One nodded sorrowfully. "Does this mean you're going to take them away?"

"Well… I guess that so long as they're safe and you want to keep them, we don't have to take them," the Doctor answered. "We need to see that they're safe though. They might look like they do good things, but they have the potential of being very harmful in the end. We also need to make sure the ship is safe. We don't want anyone getting inside and getting injured if they try turning it on. Think you could tell us where this spaceship is so we can have a look?"

The Gifted One told them exactly where to find it. He had been searching for a place to build a fort when he happened upon the spacecraft. He started turning it into his playhouse when he happened upon the nanogenes. Having gone there several times, he found the best path so that he could always find it.

"Follow along the bottom of the cliff for about an hour. You'll see a tree on the edge of the forest that has been scraped on one side by a large boulder that fell from the top of the cliff. Of course the boulder will be there, too. Turn into the forest there and walk straight for about ten minutes and you'll see three trees that had fallen on their sides from the crash. And that's where it is."

The Doctor and Rose thanked him and promised to return right after they checked the ship. It was a long walk, but they found the Chula spacecraft exactly where the Gifted One said.

The Doctor looked it over well from the outside and when he decided it looked safe, they entered. It was quite dark, but the Doctor seemed to know just where to go. After just a few moments the lights flickered on and the control panel lit up.

"It could have been pretty bad if the Gifted One ever found that switch," Rose commented.

"Very bad indeed. There's no way it could get airborne again, but it has the potential to thrust forward and take out a few more trees. No problems though. I'll just cut through a few wires and she won't be able to go anywhere."

As the Doctor worked, Rose looked around. It was quite a small ship. There were two narrow cots at the rear and two passengers were probably all it could hold as there really wasn't much room to move about. In the back, on the cots, she found that it really had become a little boy's fort. There was a small box of toys, an assortment of snacks, and a lantern.

"Kinda sad," Rose remarked. "He gets the ability to heal people, but he doesn't get to play and just be a kid anymore."

"Well, the way I'm setting things up, the only thing that will be able to be used in this ship is the nanogene containment," the Doctor informed her. "That way, if he ever wants to give it up, he only needs to cast them away and they'll come back here. And if he does that, he can always come back for them again if he needs them."

"That's fantastic, but if you're turning off all energy but that, what about the cloaking you were talking about?"

"That's controlled from the inside, but powered by the outside. I'll make sure it stays hidden."

"Won't the power run out though?"

"The Chula are very advanced in technology. The energy keeps cycling, never diminishing. It's sort of like a permanent magnet synchronous generator, but it's not electric. It's… never mind. We can talk about it later if you're interested."

"This ship though, it doesn't look like a warship. Are the nanogenes safe then?"

"Yeah," he answered. "No programming that prepares people for battle or anything. It's like their first aid kit. Perfectly safe." Just at that moment, the lights went out again. The ship was dead.

"Sounds like a perfect fix then," Rose said with a grin. "How about we go tell him?"

When they stepped out of the ship, Rose took a look at it. There was nothing there. If she looked really hard, she could see the outline of it, but unless you were looking for it, you'd think it was only forest.

On the way back to the hut, Rose's feet started to ache. They'd done a lot of walking that day and they still had the walk back into town after they visited the Gifted One. Her feet ached more at the thought.

When they got back to the hut, they both sighed and stepped to the back of the line. As soon as they were in place, the man that stood by the door informed them that the Gifted One requested that they enter as soon as they returned. When they entered, the Gifted One's mother huffed in irritation and left without being told.

"Did you find it?" the boy asked.

"Yep," the Doctor answered as he and Rose knelt down. "Safe and hidden. You have to take extra care in remembering how to get there because it's invisible now. You won't be able to find it unless you know where it is."

"Okay. But what about this stuff, these lights? I don't even know what they are."

"They're called nanogenes. Do you know what robots are?" At the boy's nod, the Doctor continued. "Nanogenes are itty bitty robots that are able to restore a person. You took them in, acting as their host, and therefore have the ability to call them at will."

"This is quite a big responsibility that you've given yourself," Rose said seriously. "Healing everyone that comes to you, that's a big job. It's demanding and it's likely to get more demanding as more people hear about you. We want you to know that you can give it up at any time. All you have to do is force them out of you with that thought in mind and they'll go back to where they came from."

"Thank you," the Gifted One said sincerely, "but I see the people that come in here and think, who else can help them? It's true that I get tired, but am I to ask them to leave and force them to suffer?"

"We respect you for that. Really we do," Rose assured him. "It's incredible the way you reach out to those suffering, but we don't want you to suffer either. Take care of yourself and if you need a little break, make sure you get one, alright?"

"Thank you, but you won't tell anyone about how I do it, will you? My people don't accept new technology well. I would be in very big trouble…"

"Not to worry," the Doctor told him. "Our little secret. We won't tell a soul."

"Thank you, friends. Sincerely, thank you," the boy said ardently. "Please though, do either of you need any healing? I'd like to repay you."

"Thanks, but we're both well. Fit as fiddles," the Doctor declared. "We better be off. Oh, and enjoy your festival. I hear it's going to be grand."

The Doctor headed for the door, but Rose reached out to him and patted his hand. "Take care."

Rose pulled her hand back and the nanogenes flowed quickly out of the boy and swirled furiously around Rose. She and the boy gaped in shock. The swirling stopped suddenly and they blew past the boy in a violent rush like they'd been swept up by a powerful gust of wind.

Very slowly, the nanogenes returned to the Gifted One, but he didn't see them because he was staring at Rose in astonishment.

"What are you?" he asked quietly.

Rose was frozen in shock, unable to respond. Her eyes flashed gold and the boy gasped.

"A god," he whispered.

Rose snapped out of it then and quickly stood up. "No," she told him. "No, not a god. Just… Just me."

"Rose, are you coming?" the Doctor asked as he poked his head through the doorway.

"Yeah," she said quietly. She glanced back at the Gifted One and ran out of the hut. He'd been kneeling and bowing to her.

"You okay?" the Doctor asked her as they headed back up the road. "You look a bit upset."

"I'm fine," she replied, forcing a smile.

"It's your feet, isn't it? Quite a bit of walking," the Doctor acknowledged.

Her feet didn't hurt anymore, but she still nodded in agreement. She couldn't tell him that the nanogenes restored her mind, that she remembered now, because it would cause him to panic. Right now, she was panicked enough for the both of them.

"Are you sure you're alright?" the Doctor asked her over dinner. "You'v been very quiet since we left Hocarro."

"Yeah, just feeling a bit disjointed I guess," Rose said with a shrug.

"How so? Do you feel ill?" the Doctor worried.

"No, not like that. Just… I don't know. A little off," she explained. "I think I'm going to go to bed early."

"Early like now? Because that would be incredibly early." The Doctor was becoming increasingly concerned.

"Yeah, I just need to pull myself together."

"Why don't you let me take you to the infirmary first? Just give you a once over?"

"No, I'm okay. I just want to rest. Goodnight, love." Rose walked over to where he sat and gave him a goodnight kiss.

Rose laid awake in bed for a few hours as she tried to quell the anxiety swirling around inside her. It felt like time was spinning around in her head. She could feel it swimming in many directions and it was hard for her to understand. Images of all kinds flashed in her mind and it was making her feel slightly ill. Worse still was the feeling that something was coming, something bad. She thought of going to the Doctor, but she feared what his response would be. He would try to fight what she knew was inevitable. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was a hard fact implanted in her head that something devastating was coming for her.

Finally, exhaustion overtook her and she fell asleep.

The Doctor sat in the library, trying his best to lose himself in the books, but he was nearly as anxious as Rose. He was very concerned about Rose's well-being, but his time sense was upsetting him, too. Something was coming and he felt helpless against it. You couldn't fight what you didn't know.

The cloister bell rang and the Doctor leapt off the sofa. That sound was one of the most terrifying he'd ever heard. It meant the TARDIS itself was threatened and therefore everyone inside.

He ran down the corridor, stumbling and bouncing off the walls as the TARDIS rocked and jerked.

"Rose!" he cried out. When he found their room empty, he shouted even louder. "Rose!"

The Doctor stumbled into the control room and spotted Rose up the ramp. "What's going on? Are we crashing?"

Rose turned to him and he froze. It was more terrifying than he'd imagined. Rose's eyes glowed and she was encompassed by a nimbus of light. The power emanating from her was so strong that it wafted her hair like a soft breeze.

"Oh god," the Doctor breathed in horror. "Rose, what happened?"

"I remembered. My memory came unblocked. I remember Bad Wolf."

"That's okay. I can fix it," the Doctor assured her. "I can block it again."

The Doctor stepped toward her, but Rose raised her arm and he softly slid back to where he was.

"You won't kill yourself for me again," she insisted.

"Then you can do it. Just push the energy back into the TARDIS. Get rid of it before you burn!"

"I can't. If I push it into the TARDIS, they'll target it. It will put you and both TARDISs in danger. I won't do it."

"Who? Who are 'they'?" the Doctor worried.

"They hide their name from me. They are formless shadows with glowing eyes. They call to me. Mock me. Threaten me. Bad Wolf flared for a single second and they found me. I must hide," Rose explained.

"Then we'll hide. We'll find a way. Expel the vortex and we'll-"

"I have not absorbed it. I have not stolen it this time. I run with it. I have always run with it, flowing along its edge. I'm sorry, my Doctor. I can't hide with you. I have to lead them away."

"No!" the Doctor begged. "Please, Rose!"

"I'm sorry," she said quietly as tears slowly ran down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

Rose walked to the TARDIS door and opened it wide.

The Doctor was horrified. They weren't crashing; Rose had pushed the TARDIS to a dangerous speed. The time vortex spun wildly outside the door.

"Don't look for me. Please don't," Rose pleaded. "If I can, I'll find you, but don't wait for me and don't search. Mourn me and let me go."

"Rose don't!" the Doctor bellowed as he rushed for her.

"I'm sorrier than you'll ever know."

Rose leapt from the TARDIS into the violent vortex. The Doctor stopped at the door and looked around for her, but there was nothing.

He rushed to the console and worked as fast as he could. It didn't matter what she said; he'd find her.

* * *

**Reviews are appreciated. Very, very appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

The moment Rose leapt into the time vortex, the Doctor began tracing her energy through it. He could track many things, but Bad Wolf was a strong entity that didn't wish to be found. Her trail was light and nearly impossible to follow. If the TARDIS didn't know her so intimately, he'd find no trace at all.

The Doctor watched the monitor with intense concentration. He saw where her trail ended and threw the TARDIS out of the vortex as quickly as he could. He was half a second off though. He felt it before he saw it. He cursed himself as he stared at the monitor. The TARDIS was floating in open space. A split second off in the time vortex could mean a hundred years off and a galaxy away. He wanted to try again, to get it right, but her trail would already have vanished completely. He lost her.

The Doctor collapsed onto the jumpseat and stared out in disbelief. It had all happened so quickly. It was hard to believe it even happened at all. Rose should be sound in bed... She should be, but she wasn't. He lost her. The image of her leaping from the TARDIS was burned into his mind and kept playing over and over. It was utterly crushing. Nothing mattered as much as Rose, and she left, asking him to let go. He'd stopped breathing minutes ago and suppressed his respiratory bypass. His chest was starting to burn but he couldn't bring himself to take that next breath. He didn't want to. He imagined himself walking the TARDIS corridors alone. Lonely meals. Empty bed. No hand to hold. No one to curl up with in the library. No Rose. Tears slid slowly down his cheeks at the thought. He couldn't bear it. He could never let her go. He couldn't and he wouldn't.

* * *

Seven months later, his resolve was the same. He wanted to actively search for her, but he knew it would be nothing but a waste of time. He needed to track her. For months he traveled through the galaxies, searching for mechanical parts he could use. The TARDIS could track time travel devices through time and space. But Rose didn't have a device. The TARDIS could track ships across galaxies. But he wasn't looking for a ship. The TARDIS could differentiate different species on a planet and monitor their movements. But he couldn't track a particular being and that system could only cover a single planet. He needed to find one person in a galaxy with 400 million planetary systems in the time span of 100 years. It was an impossible task, but he was determined to do it.

It took months to gather the parts and create the blueprints. It took the Doctor months more to assemble, review, check his calculations, and test out his creation. He was scared when it was ready. He was afraid of what it might find or what it might not. For seven months, he suppressed that fear as he focused on his work. Now that the time had come, his worry returned with full force. Rose had been scared, terrified by what was after her. She'd been frightened enough to summon the Bad Wolf, something she knew was dangerous. What if this threat was too strong? What if he lost her permanently? What if she was already truly gone?

The Doctor had to suppress his fears again and focus on his search. He couldn't do anything to help her by standing around worrying. Using large thick cables, he hooked his machine up to the TARDIS console. His machine worked, but there was no way he could achieve the large search field he wanted without significant power. Once hooked up, the Doctor went to retrieve some of Rose's DNA. It was the simplest task by far. Because Rose had suffered a few severe injuries in the past, the Doctor insisted that they keep three pints of her blood in the infirmary in case she were to ever need it. She complied when he agreed to do it, too.

The Doctor released a small amount of Rose's stored blood into a little vial and took it with him back to the control room. With steady hands, he poured a few drops into a tiny containment tube and readied the machine. He wasn't sure that there were any true gods in the universe, but he prayed to them as a collective.

The Doctor took a deep breath and pressed the button that started the machine. The TARDIS groaned in protest as her energy was forced into the machine. The dials on the console were spinning the same as they were on his machine. The TARDIS lights dimmed and the machine began to spark. His ship and his contraption were being overwhelmed by each other and he wasn't sure which to attend to first. Before he could decide, the machine blew out from the top and the TARDIS was forced to divert to auxiliary power.

The Doctor rubbed his face and pulled at his hair in frustration. Then a thought occurred to him. The dials on the machine and the TARDIS had been spinning. Where did they stop? He checked the TARDIS first. Specific coordinates were displayed. The first few numbers on his machine had been blackened by the small explosion, but the numbers he could read, matched the ones on the TARDIS. It might have found her.

The Doctor unhooked the wires that connected the machines and the moment the TARDIS was back to full power, he launched flight to the inset coordinates. He waited at the door for the TARDIS to finish materializing and rushed out the second it landed.

The Doctor was unsure of the planet's name, but it was located on the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy in the year 16386. He'd landed just in front of a large hospital and if the name 'Nerva Memorial Hospital' was the same 'Nerva' he encountered about 300 years ago in their timeline, then he guessed it was a human population.

The Doctor entered the hospital and moved straight to the receptionist. She was human, as he'd suspected. He told her he was looking for a specific patient and pulled a picture of him and Rose out of his jacket pocket. The woman's mouth fell open and she just blinked at him. The Doctor knew Rose was there and was ready to run, but didn't know where to go.

"Where is she?" he pleaded.

"Third floor, second corridor, in-"

The Doctor couldn't wait for her to finish nor could he wait for the lift. He ran up the stairs and rushed down the second corridor, looking in each of the rooms. When he reached the door at the end, he found that it was a ward with several patients. He scanned them all from the doorway and spotted his Rose in the last bed on the right. He hurried to her side and began scanning her for any sign of injury. She looked whole and he was filled with relief. Gently, he lifted her hand and in both of his.

"Sir," one of the nurses said fiercely as she walked toward him. "I'm going to have to ask you not to touch the patient."

"But she's my Rose," the Doctor replied quietly.

"You know her?" the woman asked in shock.

"Yes," he answered. "What's wrong with her?"

He could have easily used his sonic screwdriver to assess her himself, but the thought hadn't even occurred to him. He was too overwhelmed to think properly.

"Well, she's in a coma," the nurse told him gently. "But actually, we don't really understand it. She was never admitted. One day, while doing rounds, we just found her lying on a bed in one of the rooms. We tried to assess her, to help her, but we've never seen anything like it. Her heart is barely beating and she hardly breathes, but her body doesn't seem to suffer for it. We tried intravenous fluids and a nasogastric tube for nutrition, but the needle could not penetrate her skin and we were unable to force her mouth open. We couldn't even lift her eyelids to have a look at her eyes. We tried to help her, but we were helpless. Still, she breathes and her heart beats. What's more, her brain activity does not look like other coma patients. Her brain activity is still low, but there's activity in places we wouldn't expect. We simply don't understand.

"The heads of the hospital have wanted to throw her out for ages, considering she's not actually a patient and has no way of paying the bill. Her release was made official even, but no one knows what to do with her. The nurses, we've fought for her. She requires no care, only a bed. There are so many beds here; what's one more person? What cost is it to keep her here? The only service we can provide is a sponge bath every other day, and we nurses are glad to do it. She seems like such a hopeless case, but I've never stopped hoping."

"Thank you," the Doctor said sincerely. "Is there any way I can have a look at her chart?"

"I could have a look for it, but I highly doubt it's here. It's probably been transferred to the archives by now."

The Doctor's anxiety returned. "How long has she been here?"

"Sixteen years now." The nurse gave him a quizzical look, wondering how he was unaware of that fact. "I remember because it was the same year I started working here."

The TARDIS and the Doctor's machine had found Rose, but he was only given a single set of coordinates. He tried to tell himself that he was lucky he didn't arrive later, but he still felt miserable that she'd been left in this state for so long.

The Doctor undid the lock on the bed and moved it away from the wall.

"What are you doing?" the nurse asked anxiously.

"I want to see for myself what her mental state is," he explained as he moved to stand behind Rose's head.

"You're a telepath?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. I just assumed you were human. Her, too. I just assumed that since she was on this planet that she came from here. Are you long lived? Is that why she shows no signs of aging? I thought it might be the sort of stasis she's in, but-"

"We're not from here," the Doctor informed her, not wishing to go into Rose's unique DNA. He took a deep breath and gently placed his hands on Rose's head.

"Wait!" the nurse said suddenly. "How do I know you're a friend of hers? How do I know that you're not going to hurt her?"

The Doctor smiled kindly and handed her the photo of him and Rose. "You are a wonderful nurse. I can't thank you enough for looking after Rose the way that you have, but it's time that I care for her now."

"Brown," the nurse said quietly. "I always wondered what color her eyes were. Alright, I turn her over to your care, but please be careful with her."

The Doctor put the photo back in his pocket and put himself back in position. Gently, he placed two fingers on each of Rose's temples and closed his eyes to concentrate. Gently he reached out to her mind. Just as soon as he did, a shadow figure with red eyes lashed out at him. The Doctor jumped back, immediately releasing contact.

"What's wrong? What happened?" the nurse asked with concern.

The Doctor looked at Rose and was devastated by the realization of what she was suffering. He calmed himself the best he could and moved to try again. "It's nothing," he told the nurse. "I was just startled."

The Doctor was ready for the extra presence this time as he entered Rose's mind again. Angry shadows flew around the edges of her mind, but he ignored them and pressed further, probing gently for Rose's thoughts, not seeking memories, but Rose herself.

"Doctor?" Rose's mind questioned when she became aware of his presence.

"Yes," he answered her telepathically.

"You're not supposed to be here," she told him. "You weren't supposed to find me."

"You know that I could never let you go like that. Something was after you. I couldn't let you fight it alone."

"I failed. I wanted to hide, but they found me almost instantly."

"But you were Bad Wolf. Why didn't you destroy them?"

"They're transcendental beings made out of the very matter of time. If I destroyed them, it would erase them from all of time. As awful as their influence has been on the universe, they ended up shaping the universe through their deeds. If I erased them, the entire history of the universe would be rewritten. I couldn't let that happen. Neither could I force them away. Bad Wolf did the only thing she could. She pulled the beings inside of me, adapted me for my new purpose, and left me, leaving nothing but a speck of herself."

"No. No, no, no, no, no," the Doctor argued. "This can't be your purpose. You can't do this."

"But it is. I'm a prison for them. My duty is to keep them locked away for eternity."

"Eternity, Rose? You can't; you can't live this for eternity." The Doctor was losing himself in the horror of this fate she'd brought upon herself. He was losing his composure and had to focus on being calm and rational.

"I'm not suffering, Doctor. I know how horrible this must seem to you, but I don't suffer. I don't feel pain or discomfort. Bad Wolf made me immortal and invincible and to make up for that, she destroyed my sense of time. All of time seems like only a minute. I was changed into this cage only a minute ago and billions of years in the future will all be contained in that same minute. I only need to hold them for a minute. My only regret is the pain this causes you.

"I wanted to stay with you forever. I love you more than you'll ever know. It breaks my heart now to think of you being lonely. I've broken the biggest promise I've ever made. I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry. I hope one day you'll be able to forgive me. Please forgive me," Rose pleaded.

"I can't let this be, Rose. I can't let you do this," the Doctor responded miserably.

"You can't interfere. There's nothing that you can do to change this and I beg you not to try. Please, Doctor, accept this, forgive me, and find happiness again. Please be happy again. Please."

"No," he replied firmly.

"I love you," she told him.

The Doctor was pushed from her mind and when he returned to outer awareness, he found that he was crying. When he looked down at Rose, she had tear tracks running down the sides of her face.

"You can't fix her, can you?" the nurse asked sadly. Though she heard nothing that passed between Rose and the Doctor, she wept, too.

"I will," the Doctor declared. "I'll find an answer and bring her back to me. Or I'll die trying."

Together, the Doctor and the nurse wheeled Rose's bed into the lift and out of the front door.

"I'll wait with her here if you'd like to bring your transport up to the door," the nurse offered.

"No, that's alright. I can take her from here."

The Doctor lifted Rose from the bed and cradled her in his arms as he walked back to the TARDIS. It wasn't that far of a walk, but it was made longer as he traveled far into the TARDIS to find the zero room.

The zero room was quite special. It was a pocket dimension with physical laws unlike the rest of the universe. It was used to rapidly heal a person, especially neurological healing. It was empty and quiet and helped one find peace. He knew that this room would not cure Rose, but it would keep her at ease and assist her in responding to his telepathic connection.

The Doctor carried her to the center of the room. It was not zero gravity and he walked the same as he did anywhere else in the TARDIS, but when he stepped back from her, keeping her in place, she laid suspended in midair. Though he knew she was invulnerable, she looked so helpless and delicate.

The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair. As much as he didn't want to leave her there alone, he had work to do. He had to find a way to fix this. Rose needed him and he needed Rose. He would fix this.

* * *

**I wasn't planning on posting this until tomorrow, but being a holiday, I thought I'd post today. ^_^ Happy Thanksgiving to American readers.**

**I know it's not a very hopeful chapter, but I'm a happily ever after person; it'll get there.**

**Please, _please_ review.**


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